S249/111C

DUBLIN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KEVIN STREET, DUBLIN 8.

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Higher Certific te i! C"#$%ti!g

SE'ESTER ( E)*'IN*TIONS (+&+

I!f"r# ti"! S,-te#- i! Org !i- ti"!- . SOLUTIONS /ith '*RKING SCHE'E
Question 1 (a) List four structure types which are used to structure organisations.

S"0%ti"!1 There are four commonly recognised structures for organisations that are sometimes defined as types: Functional (1 mark) Product (sometimes referred to as Project as an alternative) ( marks) !ureaucratic (1 mark) "atri# (1 mark) 23 # r4-5 (b) List five e a!"#es of business organisations. $ow do business infor!ation s%ste!s re#ate to &infor!ation f#ow'(

S"0%ti"!1 !usiness organisations vary in si$e from huge international companies to private individuals% including& manufacturing and commercial companies%

 central and local government departments% financial institutions% administrative organisations% service agencies% (' marks) ) ) ) Product flo( is the flo( of ra( materials to finished goods) *nformation flo( is the creation and movement of the administrative and operational documentation necessary for product flo( and for providing a service) !usiness *nformation +ystems support information flo( and provide information to companies to assist in achieving their aims) (' marks) 2&+ # r4-5 (c) *escribe the "ur"ose of !anage!ent infor!ation in re#ation to an organisation's functiona# !onitoring and contro#.

S"0%ti"!1 "anagement *nformation for monitoring and control: ,ns(ers -uestions like ./f (hat (product0service) are (e selling most12 or .,re the sales team meeting their targets12 ( marks) 3eeds to 4e condensed and summarised information in the form of reports% graphs and ta4les% forecasts) ( marks) *s usually derived from information collected at operational level) (1 mark) 23 # r4-5 (d) List five features of an + ecutive ,nfor!ation S%ste!.

S"0%ti"!1 5#ecutive *nformation +ystems provide 6 (any five of)& decision support% (7++) information retrieval from corporate data4ases% ad hoc reporting% po(erful display and multimedia capa4ilities% presentation facilities% e)g) Po(erPoint% communications% e)g) e6mail% fa#% organisational support% electronic diary% etc) (' # 1 mark) 23 # r4-5

Question 2 (a) Co!"are the ter!s- &data'- &infor!ation' and &.now#edge'. Show how these are "ositioned on an *nformation Pyramid.

S"0%ti"!1 Data are streams of ra( facts representing events occurring in an organisation or its environment 4efore they are arranged in a form that people understand and use) Information is data that has 4een shaped into a format that is meaningful and useful to human 4eings) 7ata ) 8onverted to (9 marks) *nformation

Knowledge 3e( kno(ledge may 4e created from e#isting kno(ledge using logical inference) ( marks) *nformation : 7ata ; "eaning <no(ledge : *nformation ; Processing

) )

Wisdom Knowledge Information Data

(' marks) 2&+ # r4-5 (b) *raw a diagra! that re"resents a system- then co!!ent on each of the activities associated with a s%ste!.

S"0%ti"!1
Input Processing Output

Feedback

(' marks) *nput 8apture and collection of ra( data from (ithin an organisation or from its environment) Processing 8onversion% manipulation and analysis into a meaningful format /utput 7istri4ution of processed information to people or activities (here it (ill 4e used) Feed4ack /utput that is returned to the appropriate mem4ers of an organisation to help them evaluate or correct input) (' marks) 2&+ # r4-5 (c) 0rief#% describe how and wh% an identifiab#e strategy !ight be ado"ted b% an organisation.

S"0%ti"!1 Strategy: , 4road64ased formula for ho( an organisation (such as a 4usiness) is going to compete% (hat its goals should 4e% and (hat plans and policies (ill 4e needed to achieve those goals) +trategy is also a4out making decisions a4out (hat not to do) ( marks) +trategy is focused on -uestions a4out: ) organisational fit ) trade6offs ) profita4ility (or efficiency) ) value (9 marks) 23 # r4-5

Question / (a) + "and on the ter! &0usiness 1rocess 2eengineering'. 3ive four reasons for its use in an organisation. S"0%ti"!1 !usiness Process =eengineering (kno(n to many as !P=) is a fancy term for changing the organisation radically 4y% for e#ample& (1 mark) =educing the cycle time (8T) for production% customer service% etcetera) The empo(ering of employees (giving them more autonomy) Taking a customer6focused approach =estructuring the organisation or departments (ith% for e#ample% a team6 4ased structure (> marks) 23 # r4-5

(b)

0rief#% describe the 4ob of +ystems ,nalyst and #ist so!e of the tas.s that a s%ste!s ana#%st !ight carr% out.

S"0%ti"!1 +ystems analysts 4ridge the gap 4et(een the various stakeholders to accurately define technical re-uirements and define the *nformation +ystems scope) The systems analyst is skilled at (orking (ith end6users to determine (hat their computational needs are) The systems analyst has some organisational e#perience (hich is useful in determining if a user?s re-uests are feasi4le @ 4ut% really% their perspective is mainly that of the technology. (> marks) Ahat a systems analyst does ) 8onducts feasi4ility studies ((ith alternatives) ) Biaises (ith users and determines re-uirements ) Finds out facts important to the design of the proposed system ) 7etermines human and computer procedures that (ill make up the ne( system ) 7esigns data storage (files) and interfaces ) Arites program specifications ) Tests programs and systems ) 7esigns implementation procedures ) 7ocuments the system ) Plans% monitors and controls the systems development ) =evie(s ho( successful the project (as ) /versees the maintenance of the system (C marks) 2&+ # r4-5

(c)

3ive an account of Su""#% Chain 6anage!ent (SC6)- inc#uding the goals of this t%"e of !anage!ent and the causes of potential pro4lems when an organisation uses SC6.

S"0%ti"!1 +upply 8hain "anagement is a cross6functional inter6enterprise system to help support and manage the links 4et(een a companys key 4usiness processes and those of its suppliers% customers and 4usiness partners) +upply 8hain "anagement (+8") can 4e vie(ed as an application to match strategic o4jectives for many firms 6 The right products The right place The right time *n the proper -uantity ,t an accepta4le cost (' marks) +8" +oft(are helps organisations reengineer and integrate the functional +8" processes The goals of +8" is to esta4lish fast% efficient% lo(6cost net(ork of 4usiness relationships or a supply chain to get a companys products from concept to market) , supply chain is made up of interrelationships (ith suppliers% customers% distri4utors% and other 4usinesses that are needed to design% 4uild and sell a product) 8auses of pro4lems (ith +8": ) Back of proper demand6planning kno(ledge% tools and guidelines ) *naccurate or over6optimistic demand forecasts ) *naccurate production% inventory and other data ) Back of ade-uate colla4oration (ithin the company and 4et(een partners ) +8" soft(are considered immature% incomplete and hard to implement (' marks) 2&+ # r4-5 Question 4 (a) *escribe the !ain "rinci"#es of Se#ection and 7c8uisition of infor!ation s%ste!s b% an organisation.

S"0%ti"!1 +election of *nformation +ystems is a managerial task (hen (or (here) the hard(are and soft(are of a ne( *nformation +ystem need to 4e decided upon) The task of ac-uisition follo(s these decisions @ it can 4e seen as the 4uying in of hard(are and soft(are to match the choices made) (9 marks)

+election of hard(are and soft(are can 4e made in any order& you might choose hard(are for particular reasons and choose soft(are to go (ith the hard(are) ,lternatively% one could choose the soft(are and follo( up 4y looking for hard(are to suit it) ( marks) 23 # r4-5 (b) :hat are the negative issues associated with ac8uiring/bu%ing in standard "ac.aged software or &off;the;she#f' software(

S"0%ti"!1 *f considering modification of a 4ought standard packageD /(nership could 4e retained 4y the vendor) Eour changes may compromise your current licence if your soft(are is licenced) 8hanges may not 4e covered 4y technical support) They may not 4e supported in upgrades) ( marks) Fpgrade trap Ahere vendors only support most recent versions of soft(are) (, sales strategy on their part)) ( marks) Gendor lock6in 3e( systems may 4e difficult to replace in the future) ( marks) Training costs There may 4e a need to train in6house staff to support and maintain the 4ought6in system) ( marks) (The 4ig -uestion) *s the selected system soft(are and application soft(are 4est suited this hard(are1 ( marks) 2&+ # r4-5 (c) <ut#ine five factors that ought to be considered when ac8uiring hardware.

S"0%ti"!1 Hard(are @ evaluated (ith a vie( to selection (ill have the follo(ing factors e#amined (any five if the follo(ing si#): Performance

) +peed% capacity% throughput 8ost ) Bease or purchase price ) 8ost of operations and maintenance =elia4ility ) ,ny risk of malfunction and maintenance re-uirements (ill 4e identifued ) 5rror control and diagnostic features (ill 4e specified 8ompati4ility ) Aith e#isting hard(are and soft(are1 ) Aith hard(are and soft(are provided 4y alternative vendors1 Future proof1 ) Ahat is the speculated product life cycle1 ) 7oes it use a ne(% untested technology1 ) 7oes it run the risk of o4solescence1 5rgonomics ) *s the e-uipment .human factors engineered21 ) *s the hard(are user6friendly1 ) *s the hard(are safe% comforta4le and easy to use1 (' # marks) 2&+ # r4-5 Question 5 (a) 0rief#% describe the res"onsibi#ities of an ,nfor!ation >echno#og% *e"art!ent when estab#ishing an infor!ation s%ste! within an organisation.

S"0%ti"!1 The *T 7epartment is responsi4le for organisation6level and shared resources and for using *T to solve end users application pro4lems) 5nd users are responsi4le for their o(n computing resources and departmental resources) ( marks) The *T 7epartment and end users often (ork together as partners to manage the *T resources) The *T 7epartment has changed from a purely technical support role to a more managerial and strategic one) ( marks) *n many modern cases% the *T "anagers role has changed from a technical manager to a senior e#ecutive called the 8hief *nformation /fficer (8*/)) (1 mark) 23 # r4-5

(b)

:hat are the operational activities associated with !anaging infor!ation s%ste!s o"erations- inc#uding the activities of !anagers and the Chief ,nfor!ation <fficer (C,<)(

S"0%ti"!1 "anaging information systems operations: /perational activities re-uiring management include: ) 8omputer systems operations ) 3et(ork management ) +ystems and services production control ) +ystems and services production support (9 marks) "anagers must take part in system performance monitoring: ) "onitor the processing of computer jo4s ) Helps develop a planned schedule ) Produces detailed statistics for planning and control of computing capacity ) Help control charge4ack systems ) Help Process 8ontrol (9 marks) The 8hief *nformation /fficer (8*/): /versees all use of *T in many organisations) !rings the *T function into alignment (ith organisational goals and strategies 8oncentrates on 4usiness0*T planning and strategy Helps develop strategic uses of *T in e64usiness and e6commerce (> marks) 2&+ # r4-5 (c) *escribe a s%ste! security programme that ought to be estab#ished b% an ,nfor!ation S%ste!s *e"art!ent and the goa#s of this .ind of "rogra!!e.

S"0%ti"!1 *ntegrated security and privacy re-uirements are critical to *T management and protecting an organisations information ,n organisation may 4e re-uired 4y organisational policy or compliance to the la( to have an information security programme in place) , security programme may 4e put in place to insure against identified pro4lems or risks) , security programme may 4e managed 4y named individuals in "anagement positions in any part of the organisation) (' marks) *n this conte#t information security is cited (ith the *T 7epartment through the proper implementation of information systems) The goal of a security programme is to provide assurance that there e#ists security to:

) Provide for timely and relia4le availability of information and systems ) Preserve confidentiality of data ) +afeguard integrity of data , security control is a specific action or procedure provided to protect confidentiality% integrity and availa4ility of information0systems) (' marks) 2&+ # r4-5

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